Soarin Over California
Soarin' Over California is a suspended simulator ride at Disney's Hollywood Adventure Park at the Disney Universe Resort. Ride Summary Queue Guests walk through a corridor showing the Wings of Fame, an homage to significant aircraft in the history of aviation in California. Pre-Show Guests are placed in one of three preshow areas. Just before boarding, guests watch a pre-boarding video hosted by their chief flight attendant portrayed by actor Patrick Warburton wearing the uniform of a first officer. Ride After the pre-show, riders enter one of three theaters. Each is a dark room with 87 seats and 3 rows of ride vehicles (the back and front row with 27 seats per vehicle and the middle row with 33.) Each ride vehicle within consists of three rows of seats under a wing-like canopy. After guests have been safely restrained in the vehicle using standard lap belts, the canopy descends slightly and a cantilever system lifts the chairs forward and into the air with the guests' feet dangling freely. The vehicle is lifted into the clouds where riders fly above California. They fly, starting from the golden gate bridge, all the way to Disneyland, and to the Hollywood sign. Mechanics The vehicles are raised up into a large, concave IMAX Dome movie screen onto which the ride film is projected onto. Since the vehicle is moved forward toward the center of the dome, guests can only see the images projected on the screen and experience the sensation of flight. To enhance the illusion of flight, subtle vertical movements of the seats are synchronized to the film. Wind is blown on riders during the entire ride. The wind pressure changes depending on how fast they should be going or on how high up they are. The tempature of the wind also changes to depending on how hot or cold the area they are in actually is. Scents complementing the various scenes are injected into the air streams blowing on riders. In the Ventura orange field scene, for example, guests are treated to the scent of orange blossoms. The mountain scenes are accompanied by the aroma of evergreens. The Monterey and Malibu scenes have the scent of a sea breeze. In the beginning of the ride, when riders come out from inside the clouds, to make riders feel they are in a cloud, mist subtly sprays from above and fog comes from above the wing canopy. During the ocean scenes, mist sprays from the bottom of the scene and hits the lower row of riders. During the snow scene, the tempature of the wind gets a lot colder and fake snow comes down from the ceiling, hitting mostly the top row. When the golf ball flies past riders, a quick blast of air hits the left side of the back of their head. This air comes from an air sprayer on the back of the headrest of the seat. Unlike the ride films in other Disney parks, this one has a few changes. To make the transitions more realistic, CGI clouds cover the quick cut-aways, making it seem like the entire film is one complete shot. Also, some scenes are re-shot to during the daytime to make the entire ride take place at the same time, instead of having it slowly transition to night near the end. The entire end scene is re-shot. In the scene, riders fly through Disneyland Park and encounter the Cinderella Castle. Riders stop in front of the castle as a CGI Tinker Bell appears on screen. She creates a spark of pixie dust, which causes a bright flash. The bright flash transitions the screen to a shot of flying to the Hollywood Sign. The ride ends with a shot of the sign. The entire ride is projected onto an 80-foot tall IMAX Dome screen which completely fills riders' view. The film's projector is a 4K digital IMAX projector. The theater is equipped with Dolby Atmos sound. Trivia * Time: 5 minutes * Saftey Restraint: Seatbelt, Handlebars * Fastpass and Single Rider available * This is a version of Disney California Adventure's and Epcot's ride of the same name.